Super Rugby
Aussie leaders Brumbies beat Blues
May 25, 2013

The Brumbies survived a late Blues fightback in treacherously wet Auckland weather conditions to win 20-13 and secure their place at the top of the Super Rugby Australian conference.

It was a scrappy, desperate game at Eden Park and the Brumbies only just came out on top courtesy of their early domination of the scrum and ill-discipline from the Blues.

Scrum-half Nic White scored the Brumbies only try and Christian Lealiifano kicked five penalties to secure the victory. Rene Ranger scored the Blues' try and while Chris Noakes kicked the conversion and two penalties, their inability to score in the first half cost them dear.

In Perth Western Force fullback Jayden Hayward kicked the match-winning penalty to seal a 19-18 victory over the Highlanders in Saturday night's wooden spoon battle.

In a match dominated by the boot, the Highlanders hit the lead in the 77th minute when fly-half Colin Slade nailed a 51-metre penalty, but Hayward had the final laugh against his former side and made no mistake with his 79th-minute attempt.

Over in South Africa the Bulls beat the Sharks at King's Park to stay top of their conference.

Morne Steyn scored all the Bulls' points with six penalties and while Sharks' scrum-half Charl McLeod scored a try late on, Steyn's sixth penalty won the Bulls the match.

The Cheetahs stay second, five points behind the Bulls after they secured an away win against the Southern Kings.

Elgar Watts kicked an early penalty to give the visitors some momentum, but four penalties from Kings fly-half Demetri Catrakilis appeared to have set the hosts up with a half-time lead, but Cheetahs centre Johann Sadie ran in a try two minutes from the break and Watts' penalty meant they went in with a one point lead.

Petrus van Zyl, Sadie and Willie Le Roux added further tries by the hour mark and Watts' boot kept the Kings at arm's length, though Argentine scrum-half Nicolas Vergallo managed to go over for a late try.

In Cape Town South Africa captain Jean de Villiers scored the only try of the match as the Stormers beat the Reds 20-15.

Fullback Joe Pietersen missed the penalty, but scored five penalties. Reds' fly-half Quade Cooper scored all his side's points with five penalties of his own.

On Friday the Melbourne Rebels overcame James O'Connor and Kurtley Beale's absence to put a serious dent in the Waratahs' surge to the finals with a 24-22 upset win.

The Rebels made it two from two at AAMI Park with their first-ever win over New South Wales and the loss could be a near fatal blow to the Waratahs' finals hopes given they were already outside the top six heading into the match.

New South Wales halfback Brendan McKibbin had the chance to grab a late victory with a penalty kick with two minutes remaining but sent the ball right of the uprights.

Also on Friday reigning champions the Chiefs needed a Bundee Aki try in the 70th minute to secure an entertaining 28-19 victory over the Crusaders at Waikato Stadium.

The hosts' superior kicking game and ability to capitalise on the inferiority of their opponents' kicking allowed them to secure a 15-13 half-time lead. A composed Crusaders side, one that had won a number of Super Rugby titles, came back in the second half as Tom Taylor kicked the Crusaders to a 19-15 lead.

A quick Aaron Cruden penalty followed before Aki's try and ensured that the Chiefs had a six-point cushion with 10 minutes to play. Despite the Crusaders rallying late on, the Chiefs held firm to secure just their seventh win over the Crusaders in 21 encounters.

Australian
Pos Team P W D L Bye F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts
1 Brumbies 13 8 2 3 2 346 234 +112 33 24 4 2 50
2 Reds 14 8 2 4 1 274 264 +10 26 19 3 2 45
3 Waratahs 13 7 0 6 2 349 321 +28 37 29 1 2 39
4 Melbourne Rebels 13 4 0 9 2 307 406 -99 34 51 3 5 32
5 Force 14 3 1 10 1 233 323 -90 21 29 0 5 23


New Zealand
Pos Team P W D L Bye F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts
1 Chiefs 13 10 0 3 1 383 283 +100 40 29 6 2 52
2 Crusaders 12 7 0 5 2 315 241 +74 30 21 3 3 42
3 Blues 12 6 0 6 2 270 244 +26 31 22 5 5 42
4 Hurricanes 12 6 0 6 2 280 319 -39 28 34 3 3 38
5 Highlanders 12 1 0 11 2 238 346 -108 24 36 1 4 17


South African
Pos Team P W D L Bye F A PD TF TA TBP LBP Pts
1 Bulls 12 9 0 3 2 337 238 +99 29 24 4 2 50
2 Cheetahs 13 9 0 4 1 320 287 +33 32 25 2 3 45
3 Sharks 13 6 0 7 1 285 252 +33 25 24 2 4 34
4 Stormers 12 5 0 7 2 245 253 -8 21 16 1 5 34
5 Southern Kings 12 3 1 8 2 244 415 -171 22 50 2 0 24

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